Sweet Home Alabama

To those that say race played a small role in this presidential election, put it here.

"Here in Alabama, where Mr. McCain won 60.4 percent of the vote in his best Southern showing, he had the support of nearly 9 in 10 whites, according to exit polls, a figure comparable to other Southern states."

I live in what is considered the deep south, and I'm keeping my Obama stickers on the car. This is my answer to those who kept their W or Bush/Cheney stickers adorning pickup trucks down here. I still see them every day.

Rednecks suck.

Comments

  1. That's fine, but do all the black people s*ck who voted overwhelmingly for Obama?

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  2. My understanding is that Blacks overwhelmingly vote Democrat. Aside from the enthusiasm and marginally better turnout at the polls, it was business as usual. Blacks have heretofore had nothing but whites to vote for in presidential contests.

    Whites, particularly Southern Whites, have an awful history with race relations. I know you don't need a history lesson, but do not forget it was Whitey in charge of the machinery and power of the State during a long and disgraceful period.

    I don't think Blacks who voted for Obama were meanspirited, but I think a lot of white votes for McCain were based on hatred. So, No, I don't think Black people suck because they voted for Obama.

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  3. FWIW, only 88% of blacks voted for Kerry in 2004, according to this article.

    I think it is obvious that some black people voted for Obama because of his color, and it is also obvious that some white people voted against Obama for the same reason. I also agree that the first tendency isn't "racism" in the same ugly way that the second is.

    But anyway, I still thought your post was a bit of a non sequitur since you went from "most whites voted for mccain" to "rednecks suck."

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  4. Non-Sequitur? Were we not talking about Alabama? This is the state that sits above the infamous "redneck riviera." I was surprised to learn that Serra Paylin's future son-in-law called himself a "f---in redneck," most of all because I always considered rednecks to be a deep south thing. It's the way white trash describe themselves when they're feeling proud.

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  5. Anonymous11:45 PM

    I can't imagine the difficulty my old southern granny would have had if she were alive to vote this year. She always voted straight ticket Dem (even against family) because of Lincoln. She was also quite a racist. There were lots of folks like there were I came from. If any are still left, I guess their heads probably exploded on election day.

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  6. Non-Sequitur? Were we not talking about Alabama? This is the state that sits above the infamous "redneck riviera."

    Yeah, a non sequitur. Suppose I made a post that said, "To those who say that Bush was a bad president, check out this article in the NYT which says that California has earthquakes."

    Then you could rightfully say, "What the hell are you talking about?"

    So to repeat, you seemed in this post to be saying, "Aha! I told you those crackers were racist. 9 in 10 supported McCain."

    To which I pointed out that more than 9 in 10 blacks supported Obama, which is more than in previous elections.

    Also, FWIW, if Condoleeza Rice and Colin Power (before he endorsed Barack Obama of course) were the Republicans versus John Edwards and Hillary Clinton, your cracker neighbors would've voted for the black people I bet. Not as much as they did for McCain, but a lot would have I think.

    That doesn't prove they're NOT racist, but the situation was a lot more nuanced than simply "We don't like coloreds." It was more like, "We don't like coloreds who have funny names and are going to take my money and guns."

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  7. Anonymous9:16 AM

    Woody - Just out of curiosity, have you ever engaged the work of Jim Goad or Joe Bageant?

    Araglin

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  8. According to exit polls conducted in Alabama by CNN, In 2004 91% of Blacks voted for Kerry, and just 19% of Whites went with Kerry. The traditional strategy to focus on the poor, white and stupid is no longer a winner for Republicans. Appalachia and the deep south aren’t going to carry the nation. Texas is less than a generation from becoming a Hispanic voting block, and Mexican descendents appear to be more thoughtful in their voting preferences. Keep up the attacks on immigration which work so well with poor Whites.

    Bob, there is a surfeit of anecdotal evidence that suggests race was a major factor in the behavior of southern White voters. The primaries were perhaps a better tell on the race issue. Please note how well gun-friendly Hillary did in the Democratic primaries. The strangeness of his name and the maliciously false reports on Obama’s position on gun ownership, I believe were mere rationalizations for a race-based decision. I own seven guns, and I’m not worried that Obama would take them away. He sounded downright gun-friendly during the campaign.

    I think the so-called nuances are just plain horseshit. I’d like to see some cross-sectional data on southern McCain voters regarding incomes and dependence upon public handouts. I suspect that their “anti-socialism” is another rationalization to vote against the black man. Obama should have appealed to the working poor Whites, those on the dole and senior citizens out of basic economic self-interest. Senior citizens by definition are all on the dole.

    I’ve met black people who were not for Obama, but I’ve yet to see a black person driving a car with a McCain/Palin sticker on it. There are still plenty of confederate flag stickers on the rear windows of pickup trucks down here. I think the debate about the confederate flag being not of race, but of southern pride to be insincere. Most people view that flag as a symbol of hate. I think there are a lot fewer rebel flags on the road since the time when Howard Dean wanted to co-op these people. My personal observations lead me to believe that the rebel flag stickers have been supplanted by “W” and “Bush/Cheney” stickers. I think there is a direct relationship and implicit racist message. The Bush stickers are five years old, and still displayed with pride. The militaristic McCain/Palin stickers will surely be displayed from the rear of pickup trucks for years to come.

    Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to work on the flame wars on Univeristy of Alabama blogs. Go Red Tide! GoO.bama!

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